to light up the night sky

1 3.7

To make the night sky bright with lights like fireworks

phrasal verb

: iluminar el cielo nocturno

The lanterns released into the air beautifully light up the night sky over the village.

But stick around long enough, watch these systems and for a few trillion years they will, for the very last time light up the night sky.

Examples

Suddenly, a huge explosion lit up the night sky.

Fiction book (1998)
Giant hamburgers were lighting up the night sky on neon signs that dwarfed entire buildings.
But every 33 years, they light up the night sky.

Academic text (1994)
It lights up the night sky and is a sight to see, as you can see in the pics above.

Blog text (7)
But, my little Halloweenies, we can all still celebrate with nature's fireworks lighting up the night sky.

Hubie Halloween (2020)
She talked about it for at least ten days beforehand, making plans, going on about the homemade ice cream we’d eat, and about the way the fireworks she’d bought across the river in Arkansas would light up the night sky.

Fiction book (1996)
The colorful fireworks lit up the night sky during the New Year's celebration.
Every summer, the festival ends with a display of fireworks that light up the night sky.

Synonyms

to light

vsto light up the night sky

905 1.0

To make something start to burn or shine

is focused on creating a visible overhead display rather than any burning

to light up

vsto light up the night sky

64 2.5

Begin to shine or make something begin to shine, for example by burning

is used to brighten the dark overhead using lights or fireworks

to illuminate

vsto light up the night sky

52 4.1

To make something bright or visible with light

is for brightening the dark overhead rather than general visibility

Antonyms

to obscure

86 7.0

Make something hard to see or understand

to darken

63 3.3

Make or become less bright, for example a room

Surface Forms

light up the night sky infinitive

lighting up the night sky present participle

lights up the night sky third person singular

lit up the night sky past

lit up the night sky past participle

Morphology

light + up + the + night + sky

The phrase is compositionally built from 'light' (to illuminate) + the particle 'up' (intensifying/completing the action) and the literal phrase 'the night sky', so its meaning 'to make the night sky bright' is directly derivable from the constituents. This motion/illumination + target pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English phrasal-verb + object composition, making it transparent to a B1 learner who knows the words.

Etymology

Light up the night sky comes from the clear image of fireworks, lanterns, or spotlights that make the dark sky glow, with light up meaning to make bright and night sky meaning the sky after dark. So the phrase means 'to make the night sky bright'.